Process and apparatus for treating elongated deformable articles



June 2, 1970 J. HOCHSTRASSER ETAL 3,515,138

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING ELONGATED DEFORMABLE ARTICLES l FiledJuly 5, 1967 United States Patent 3,515,138 PROCESS AND APPARATUS FORTREATING ELONGATED DEFORMABLE ARTICLES Josef Hochstrasser, GrafenbergerAllee 39, Dusseldorf,

Germany, and Justus Wolff, Richard-Strauss-Allee 20,

Wuppertal-Barmen, Germany Filed July 5, 1967, Ser. No. 651,167 Int. Cl.A61f 13/20 US. Cl. 128-270 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tamponconsisting of an elongated body of deformable absorbent material. Thetampon body has a leading end adapted to be introduced into a cavity inadvance of the remainder of the tampon. The tampon body further has aside surface which extends rearwardly from the leading end, and anendless rounded exterior edge which forms a transition area between theleading end and the side surface.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS An apparatus for treating anelongated deformable article of the type as set forth in the presentapplication has been disclosed in our copending application, Ser. No.393,502, entitled Process and Apparatus for Treating ElongatedDeformable Articles, of which the present application is a division.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to elongateddeformable articles, and more particularly to tampons adapted to beintroduced into a body cavity.

Elongated deformable articles adapted to be introduced into cavities ofthe body are already known. For example, there exists a variety oftampons used for purposes of feminine hygiene and these tampons areintroduced into and removed from the body cavity by the user herself.While the hitherto known tampons of this type have been generally foundto be satisfactory for the basic purpose,

for which they are intended, namely for purposes of feminine hygiene,they do suffer from various disadvantages. The most important of thesedisadvantages is the fact that the fibers of the tampons which, forexample, are usually made of wound and subsequently compressed cottonfibers or the like, come loose, usually in form of fibrous portionswhich become disengaged from the remainder of the article when thelatter, upon introduction into the body cavity, engages the moist wallbounding the cavity. Evidently, it is undesirable and under certaincircumstances can even be dangerous, to have a portion of the tamponremain in the body after the major part of the article has been removedfrom the body cavity. The possibility of partial destruction of thetampon is further enhanced by the fact that, when the tampon is ejectedfrom the special applicator which is provided for its introduction, theend of the applicator quite frequently engages and roughens the surfaceof the leading end of the tampon, thus increasing the likelihood thatportions of the tampon will become disengaged when the tampon is lateragain removed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a tampon whichis not subject to the disadvantages outlined above with reference toconventional articles of this type.

More particularly, the present invention provides an elongated article,and specifically a tampon, the leading end of which is so treated thatthere will be no loosening ICC of fibers from the article and thearticle is capable of smoothly and conveniently moving into and out of abody cavity.

A tampon in accordance with the present invention is provided with asmooth leading end and the fibers at this leading end are compressedagainst and remain securely in engagement with each other.

Furthermore, a tampon in accordance with the present invention is not ofundue density, despite the compression of the fibers at the leading endof the tampon, so that the moisture-absorbing capability of the tamponis not impaired by the provision of the smooth end.

In accordance with a further concept of the present invention, a tamponas set forth in the present invention can be treated with a medium whichwill enhance the use of the article, for instance a lubricant whicheases the movement of the article into and out of the body cavity. Also,the article or tampon can be provided with suitable medication whichmelts at body temperature when the article is introduced into the bodycavity.

Additionally, a tampon in accordance with the present invention can beprovided with a larger exposed surface area, and can be given greatermoisture-absorbing possibilities than conventional tampons.

In accordance with these and other characteristics of the presentinvention, we provide a tampon which com prises an elongated body ofdeformable absorbent material. Further in accordance with the invention,the body has a leading end which is adapted to be introduced into a bodycavity in advance of the remainder of the tampon, and a side surfaceextending rearwardly from this leading end. Furthermore, the body isalso provided with an endless rounded exterior edge which forms atransition area between the leading end and the side surface mentionedabove.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 shows in side elevation onepossible embodiment of a tampon in accordance with the presentinvention; and

FIG. 2 shows in a partly sectional side elevation another possibleembodiment of a tampon according to the present invention.

,DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The elongated tampon inaccordance with the present invention has the configuration of asubstantially cylindrical bar or rod or the like, and it is composed offibrous material. In FIG. 1 the tampon is generally indicated withreference numeral and its elongated cylindrical configuration is clearlyevident. The leading end of the tampon, which is to be initiallyintroduced into the vagina, is provided with an end face 102 andextending rearwardly therefrom there is provided a cylindrical sidesurface 103. The transitional edge portion 101, that is the portionintermediate the side surface 103 and the leading end face 102, isrounded to thereby facilitate introduction of the tampon.

Although the tampon in accordance with the present invention can haveany known basic structure which is then treated in accordance with theinvention to provide the tampon with the structure of the invention, itis .3 preferred to form the tampon of the invention from one or morelayers of a material, such as a suitable fabric, which has the propertyof absorbing liquids into the body of the material. The layer or layersof this fabric have their fibers extending generally longitudinally ofthe elongated fabric strips which are used for producing the tampon andwhich initially have a width equal to the length of the final tampon ofthe invention. It is to be understood that the fibers do not for themost part extend parallel to the elongation of the respective strip;rather, they are intertwined and extend generally in the longitudinaldirection of the strip with which they include a more or less acuteangle. In producing the tampon, the string 104 is first placed aroundthe central portion of the strip or strips of this fabric and issuitably knotted so that the string 104 projects to one side beyond thefabric. This string, of course, is subsequently used for removing thetampon from the body cavity when it is desired to-discard the tampon.

After the string 104 has been suitably secured to the fabric strip orstrips, an elongated rotary member which is formed with an axial slotextending into the member from one end thereof, such member having theconfiguration of a shaft of a relatively small diameter, is placed atthe central portion of the strip or strips of fabric with the lattersituated in the slot of the rotary member. Thereupon, the rotary memberis rotated so that the fabric is wound onto the rotary member.Thereafter, the material wound onto the rotary member is removedtherefrom and the fabric winding is placed in a suitable press where itis radially compressed until it has the configuration of the cylindricalbody.

Subsequently, the basic cylindrical body is further treated with theapparatus disclosed in our above-mentioned copending application so asto have the structure shown in FIG. 1.

This structure has already been outlined above and is obtained byexerting a certain relatively low axial pressure on the transitionalarea 101 of the tampon 100, by engaging this transitional area 101 witha heated rotary instrumentality, and thus will reliably remain together,preventing any disintegration or separation of the tampon during usethereof. It is important that the instrumentality not engage the leadingend face 102 of the tampon 100 since it is desired that the fibers ofthe leading end face 102 be not oriented in the same manner as thefibers of the transitional area 101. The reason for this is that it isthe transitional area 101 which engages the moist wall of the bodycavity, and not the leading end face 102, so that disintegration of thetampon at the leading end thereof can be reliably prevented if thefibers of the transitional area 101 are oriented as outlined above. Thisorientation effect, which may also be described as an ironing actioncomparable to that of a flat-iron used for the ironing of clothes, canbe enhanced by spraying a small amount of a liquid such as water on theleading end of the tampon, such liquid being converted into steam duringthe application of the now hot rotary instrumentality to thetransitional area 101 of tampon 1. It is clear that the fibers, whichare more or less curled, are pressed into more intimate contact and areforced to intertwine still more as a result of the axial and rotarymotions of the heated instrumentality. The curling and intertwining ofthe fibers is further enhanced, as also pointed out, by the steam whichdevelops when the sprayed-on liquid is heated by the hotinstrumentality. In fact, under some circumstances the residual moisturecontent of the fibers can be sufiicient to produce such steam withoutrequiring the application of additional liquid.

Because it is only the edge region of transitional area 101 of tampon 1which is rounded, the end face 102 as well as the cylindrical sidesurface 103 of the tampon is still part of the relatively irregularsurface area of the original fabric. In other words, the fibers of thefabric on the end face 102 and the cylindrical side surface 103 have notbeen oriented in the same manner as the fibers of the transitional area101 and thus are not impaired at all in their moisture-absorbingcapability. Thus, the over-all moisture-absorbing capability of thetampon is diminished only to a very small and hardly significant extentby the provision of the rounded transitional area 101, which is smoothin accordance with the invention to facilitate the insertion of thetampon into the body cavity.

As has already been pointed out before, a lubricating means can beprovided on the tampon according to the present invention. This is shownin FIG. 2 where the tampon in general is indicated with referencenumeral 205. The leading end face is indicated with reference numeral206 and will be seen to be provided with a depression recess 207. Thisdepression recess 207 is provided in order to enhance the absorption ofbody fluids by the tampon, and it will be evident that this aim isaccomplished simply by the fact that the inner circumferential surfacebounding the recess 207 increases the available over-all surface area ofthe tampon 205 which is available and capable of absorbing the bodyfluids.

The recess 207 need not, however, remain empty but it can if desired befilled with a suitable medication which melts at body temperature.

The side surface of the tampon 205 in FIG. 2 is indicated with referencenumeral 209 and the Withdrawal string is indicated with referencenumeral 211.

The aforementioned lubricant, serving to aid introduction of the tampon205 in a body cavity, can be provided by spraying or otherwisedepositing a suitable lubrication means on the leading end of the tampon205. FIG. 2 shows this in form of a relatively rigid cap 210 which ismade of a material capable of melting at body temperature so that, whenthe tampon is introduced into the vagina, the warmth of the body willimmediately melt the material of the cap 210, thus facilitatingintroduction of the tampon 205. It will be understood, of course, thatcap 210 can also be provided in the form of a film deposited on theleading end of the tampon. It is to be noted, however, that thismaterial does not enter into the depression 207 and that, if it isprovided in form of the cap 210 as shown in FIG. 2, this cap must havean opening, such as the opening 208', which registers with the recess207 so that the same remains free and is capable of absorbing bodyfluids.

Summarizing up it can be stated that a tampon in accordance with thepresent invention not only greatly facilitates introduction into a bodycavity, but also significantly reduces if not completely eliminates thedanger that portions of the tampon, moistened by body fluids in theinterior of the body cavity, adhere to the wall surrounding the bodycavity and become separated and retained within the body cavity when theremainder of the tampon is Withdrawn from the cavity, as is sometimesthe case with tampons known from the prior art. For all of thesereasons, the tampon disclosed herein constitutes a significant advantageboth as to convenience and safety in this field.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofarticles differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in atampon, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, sincevarious modifications and structural changes may be made withoutdeparting in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this inventionand, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent isset forth in the appended claims:

1. A tampon comprising an elongated body of a predetermined deformablecompressed absorbent material, said body having a leading end faceadapted to be introduced into a body cavity in advance of the remainderof the tampon, a side surface extending rearwardly from said leading endface, and an endless rounded exterior edge portion forming a transitionarea between said leading end face and said side surface, both saidleading end face and said side surface having a predetermined surfacetexture exhibited by said predetermined material in compressed state andbeing at least in part exposed for facilitating' absorption of bodyfluids, and only said endless rounded exterior edge portion having asurface texture which is smoother than said predetermined surfacetexture of said leading end face and said side surface.

2. A tampon as defined in claim 1, wherein said leading end face isformed with a depression.

3. A tampon as defined in claim 1, and further comprising a layer oflubricating material provided on at least said transition area of saidbody.

4. A tampon as defined in claim 3, wherein said leading end face isprovided with a depression bounded by an inner peripheral face, andwherein said inner peripheral face is free from said lubricatingmaterial for facilitating the absorption of fluids on introduction ofsaid tampon into a body cavity.

5. A tampon as defined in claim 3, wherein said lubri- 6 eating materialis solid at room temperature but melts at body temperature.

6. A tampon as defined in claim 2, wherein said depression is adapted tocontain a medication.

7. A tampon as defined in claim 1, wherein said deformable absorbentmaterial is a fibrous material and wherein the fibers of said materialare oriented substantially transversely of the elongation of said bodyat least at said leading end face thereof.

8. A tampon as defined in claim 7, wherein said body is of substantiallycylindrical configuration, and wherein said fibers at said leading endface are oriented substantially tangentially of said body.

9. A tampon as defined in claim 8, wherein said fibers are slightlycompacted in longitudinal direction of said body and in the regioninwardly adjacent to said leading end face.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,301,868 11/1942 Gurley et al128285 2,440,141 4/1948 Donovan 128-285 3,393,678 7/1968 Pacini 1282703,428,044 2/ 1969 Whitehead et al. 128--285 FOREIGN PATENTS 261,771 9/1949 Switzerland.

ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 128-285

